2013 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational

Six years ago, Cam Douglass, Optima Batteries' director of product development and marketing, was walking around the SEMA Show in Las Vegas noting that this simply had to be the single largest gathering of performance-oriented enthusiast vehicles in the world. Most of them were featuring the latest and greatest products and ideas from the best and brightest in the industry. SEMA is all about business and making connections, advertising, and building sales and business, but Douglass thought there had to be a way to capture all that potential and funnel it into an event to showcase the performance capabilities of the amazing custom vehicles that were already gathered in one place. SEMA ends on a Friday, Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch isn't very far away, and it would be easy to run a road course, autocross, and speed-stop there...That, hot rodders, was the genesis for the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational (OUSCI).

Now in its sixth year, the OUSCI has grown rapidly in attendance and prestige. What started as a small event of 20-some participants and few industry insiders has grown to include a full schedule of national qualifying events, hundreds of spectators, and extensive media coverage from key automotive enthusiast publications. Television coverage has become a regular part of the event, and this year's Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational will air on MAV TV in early 2014.

2/87Brian Hobaugh’s years of autocrossing behind the wheel of his mightily flared ’65 Corvette really showed on the RideTech Street Challenge autocross as he turned in the top time at 00:36.311.

Did you catch that "full schedule of national qualifying events" part? Optima has announced the expansion of its popular "Optima Batteries Search for the Ultimate Street Car" television specials on MAV TV into an all-new national race series alongside a full schedule of events. The newly formed Ultimate Street Car Association (USCA) will oversee 10 events spread out across the country that will give performance automotive enthusiasts of all levels the opportunity to participate or spectate coast-to-coast, ultimately concluding with the championship Invitational held the day following the SEMA show. The USCA series will open the gates to legendary tracks most of us have only dreamed of driving on before. From Laguna Seca Raceway in California, to Sebring and Daytona in Florida, all the way up to Road America in Wisconsin, there will be an event near you. If you never got wrapped up in the enthusiasm of getting your car on a real track, this may be the best chance ever. We couldn't be more excited about the possibilities here. Hot rodders, it's time to get on track!

2013 OUSCI Top 10

Brian Hobaugh

1965 Corvette

Mark Stielow;

1967 Camaro

Danny Popp

2010 Camaro

Brian Finch

1970 Camaro

Karl Dunn

1968 Camaro

Todd Earsley

2003 Evo

Steve Kepler

2013 GT-R

Kyle Tucker

2012 Camaro

Bret Voelkel

1933 Ford

Larry Woo

1968 Camaro

1968 Camaro
Blu Balz

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Let's get it out of the way right up front: Yes, the name of this 1968 Camaro is referencing exactly what you think it is. The name came about from a joke about how excited owner Karl Dunn was about the car getting completed and how long the process of building a top-shelf Pro Touring car can take.

Dunn was no newbie to performance driving, though; he already had a love of autocross born from years of competing in his past. Nevertheless, the rise of Pro Touring and events featuring road course tracks like those put on by the American Street Car Series began to reignite his interest. In 2010, Dunn got back out on track in his first Pro Touring event, the Midwest Muscle Car Challenge, in a 2007 Parnelli Jones edition Saleen Mustang. The camaraderie and fun nature of the series was all it took to hook him. The next year he did a series of events, including RTMC, Motorstate 3, Heidts, MMCC2, Peachstate, and RTTH 7.

Late-model S197 Mustangs are great platforms for such events, but surrounded by vintage cars imbued with the latest in aftermarket technology, Dunn knew it was time to build his own. Vintage Camaros are ubiquitous on the circuit, and when Dunn saw pictures of JCG Restoration & Customs' 1969 with lightly flared fenders and quarters, he knew exactly what he wanted. Dunn told Cris Gonzalez he wanted a car that was capable of running with the best vintage Camaros out there. He knew he didn't yet have the requisite driving skills to be a top finisher, but he wanted a car that not only had the look, but had the specs to be competitive. Now Dunn's focus is putting in the seat time to get his capabilities to same level as Blu Balz's.

Regular readers will recognize the Mach40 from our Top Cars of SEMA 2012 coverage last year. Typically we look for unique cars in our event coverage, but we felt Dave Eckert of Eckert's Rod & Custom and the Mach40's owner deserved recognition for having the courage to not only accept the OUSCI invite, but to run a seven-figure build hard. Built as an interpretation of what a 1969 Mach1 Mustang would look like if it had been the basis for Ford's GT40 racers, the mid-engine, GT-powered Mach had the pedigree for sure. It has spent significant time on the street getting sorted since last year, but OUSCI would be its first competitive outing.

Eckert told us from the beginning he's not a racer, but out on the autocross and road course he drove the Mach40 impressively hard—hard enough to put it in the dirt once. Picture it and cringe: that car, sliding off track into the dirt. Other than that slip, the Mach40 looked stable, well balanced, and positively gorgeous as it rounded the corners and hit triple digits on the straightaways.

But that's what this amazing feat of metalwork and engineering was all about from the beginning: It was never intended to be a trailered, pampered show car. The owner drives it to work regularly, and was eager to see its capabilities on track. Now Eckert has some additional data to put into adjustments for the suspension.

When Bob Benson picked up this 1972 Pantera 13 years ago, it already had a history of autocrossing early in its years, and was later set up for mild open tracking. But Benson says it really was not that fast and was more of a show car, so he spent most of his track time in his 1965 GT350R clone. That is until he over-revved and scattered the 347 stroker on the front straight of Thunderhill. Benson bought a new 302 block and was starting to do a 331 stroker replacement, but his Pantera buddies bugged him so badly that he decided to do a motor for the Pantera instead. So he sold the 302 and bought a 351 Windsor and stroked it to 411 inches.

Benson pulled the factory Cleveland, had the engine bay detailed and installed the engine with 180-degree headers, chassis braces, a four-point rollcage, custom Fuel Safe cell, full MSD ignition, Wilwood brakes, and some sticky Hoosier R6 race tires. The first time he tracked the car, Benson won his class and beat many full race cars with his street-legal ride. "I told my wife the car was a lot better than the Mustang," Benson said, "and that was a really good car."

So far, the Pantera has been raced yearly at the Pantera Club Event, as well as autocrossed, drag raced, and driven to Vegas and back on Hoosier R6s. It has run at Reno/Fernly, Thunderhill (Checkered Flag racing), Sears Point (Infineon), Laguna Seca, Firebird Raceway, and even Spring Mountain in Pahrump. So really the biggest challenge for Benson at OUSCI was learning how the Pantera would handle on the required 200-treadwear tires rather than full-race rubber. By all indications, it did quite well.

Utes are a rare sight at performance events, especially high level ones like OUSCI, but there's really no reason why not. Unlike trucks, which inherently have a large front-to-rear weight differential without significant work, utes like El Caminos and Rancheros are just two-door wagons with the roofs removed. It's actually not difficult at all to balance them; Mike Holleman's badass 1965 Elky boasts a nearly 50/50 weight balance. Of course, that is in part due to the state-of-the-art chassis and suspension components from Schwartz Performance, but even without that level of work, good balance is not unattainable.

Holleman's Elky is also exceptionally well dialed-in, as he's logged more than 30,000 miles on it since completion—many of them driving to and from events and copious track time. Copious enough that he's already had to replace the windshield from track rash. We can totally appreciate that level of dedication.

Why did he select the Elky to begin with? Well, Mike originally put the Elky into road course and top-speed shootout use after taking too much ribbing from a friend for attending events, but never bringing anything to run. He already had the Elky and liked it, so he decided to simply evolve it as his tastes changed. Plus, it kept him unique amongst the crowd without being at a disadvantage, and we can always get behind that.

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That seat time really showed out on the big track at OUSCI for the BFGoodrich Hot Lap Challenge. The Elky performed admirably, just barely being edged out by 2013 PHR Muscle Car of the Year (MCOTY) competitor Damion Campbell and his ultralight, full tube-frame 1963 LeMans (Dec. 2013) by the slimmest of margins (.073 second). Not bad for a ute!

This wildly flared 1967 Mustang has been a long time in the works over at Total Cost Involved (TCI), so we were excited to see it out for its first real competition. TCI took their time on this bad boy not only because they were working out details for the front and rear suspension systems that would become available for purchase, but also because this Mustang was intended to be founder and president Ed Moss's personal street/track toy. When it's for the big guy to drive and show off the company, it has to be right!

The suspension works really well, and the paint and interior are killer, but what really sells us on this Mustang is the full flare and aero package designed and built in-house at TCI. Hand-shaped 100 percent from steel, the wheel flares were designed to drop the ride height and widen the stance while fully covering the leading edge of the 18x10 and 18x12 Billet Specialties wheels. Inspired by modern road race cars, the ground effects between the wheelwells serve to help keep air from reentering under the chassis once the front splitter and air dam have scooped it away. Packages such as this are mostly used on later-model racers and are rarely seen on vintage cars, but man does it look great on this fastback. We wish they would sell those parts too!

We very rarely make statements like this, but Brian Hobaugh's midyear Corvette is our all-time favorite example of the breed. Not only does it look menacing and classy at the same time with those perfect flares and ultra-wide meats all around, but it boasts giant-slaying performance with a very modest part list.

Hobaugh's father, Steve, purchased the Corvette in 1983 from local Corvette legend, Larry Park. The Hobaughs were the fourth owners; Larry was the third. Ron Christiansen originally purchased the car in 1965 for the purpose of autocrossing and it has been autocrossed regularly since then. It's even had those huge flares we love so much since 1965. The flares have changed a little bit over the years, but not much; the rears were made larger in the late 1970s to accommodate even larger tires. The front flares have remained the same since the late 1960s.

The Corvette has been a huge part of both Hobaughs' lives over the past few decades; Brian learned how to drive in it at 15 years old in 1984, and he has been autocrossing it since he actually got his driver's license in 1985. That began a lifelong passion for Brian and his father, Steve, who have been autocrossing the Corvette together for the past 28 years. The Corvette actually had a history of winning local and regional championships from its previous owners, so the Hobaughs were just continuing the legacy. Since they have had the car, Brian has won numerous autocross events. In 2013, for example, Brian won all events at Run to the Coast in El Toro, California, as well as being crowned "King of the Coast," and placed Second in the Goodguys Autocross Shootout in Scottsdale, Arizona. Now he can add "OUSCI winner" to his and the Corvette's long list of accomplishments. Great performance parts make a difference, but there's no replacement for decades of dedication and seat time in the same car dialing everything in perfectly!

The Cheverra was a serious track/touring muscle car before such a thing even existed. Herb Adams, a former GM engineer, had worked on a Skunk Works project to develop Trans Ams for the International Race of Champions. Based on production cars and parts, Herb was able to drastically increase the car's handling capabilities. The program was killed, but Adams was able to retain rights to the parts he developed and opened VSE (Very Special Equipment). Using those parts on an unprepped street car that he drove from California to Florida on Goodyear Wingfoot street tires, he entered and ran the 1979 24 Hours of Daytona. An engine failure kept him from finishing, but Goodyear took note and decided to lend some support. The second year, the automatic trans gave them issues, but they did finish. For year three, Adams decided to build a completely new car from a 1977 shell he drug out of a junkyard. This was the Cheverra that really made everyone, including exotic and sports car racers, take notice. A stock chassis Camaro with leaf springs and stock control arms with some fat tires ran fender-to-fender with the best on track. Hot Rod magazine even put it on their June 1981 cover. Sadly, a blown tire sent Cheverra into the wall, and it was sold after the race.

Twenty years later, Cheverra was miraculously found and with the help of sons Mark and Mathew, Adams decided to rebuild the iconic racer, staying true to the original car's look and intent. Thirty-two years later, the concept is perhaps more valid than ever. And thanks to National Parts Depot (NPD), some of Cheverra's signature parts such as the flare, nose, and wing are available for purchase.

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Ever wonder where the name came from? It's actually a poke at Porsche Carrera owners who were surprised and annoyed by the low-buck Camaro that passed them on track. Adams even styled the wing after a Porsche just to really drive the joke home.

Growing up in a family of four boys raised by a gearhead dad, the only way Darren Nickleson and Don Nickleson could have a great car was to find one and fix it up. Don started honing his bodywork skills at the age of 14 and infected his younger brother, Darren, with that same passion a few years later. Darren later sharpened his skills at a few places including a Corvette customizing shop before starting his own collision repair business in his early 20s.

In 1974, Don picked up a 1969 GTO Judge Ram Air IV. Don's girlfriend at the time (who eventually became his wife) also loved the Judge, but it eventually had to go since the gas mileage and college tuition wouldn't fit into their budget. They regretted letting it go ever since.

Over the two plus decades that passed, Darren built a top-level collision repair business, but one also capable of building top-level show cars and performance cars. Darren was looking for a way to finance a car that would showcase that talent and draw clients to the Indy Street Rod and Classics side of his business, and Don was looking to build a car worthy of showcasing while taking him and his high school sweetheart down memory lane. Those two desires came together in JudgeMENTAL, a two-and-a-half year adventure that is arguably the nicest GTO ever built.

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Beginning with a sight-unseen purchase from Arizona, it was soon discovered that "rust free" doesn't mean "damage free." Every panel other than the decklid was replaced, as well as the floor (to accommodate the Tremec six-speed) and a mini-tubbed rear end. Intended to be the ultimate Pro Touring tribute to the 1969 GTO Judge, JudgeMENTAL has awesome custom fabrication touches, most notably lengthened and boxed-in rocker panels, and an extremely slick interior any GTO lover would kill for.

Agent 47 learned quite a bit from the original Harbinger Mustang (PHR Sept. 2011) and channeled that testing data into the new Harbinger X2. Of course the X2 will take over as the company's flagship/demo car, but the goals are much more ambitious than product sales. The X2 will actually replace Agent 47 founder Corey Weber's long-time American Iron Extreme SN95 Mustang race car, while remaining street-legal. That's not figuratively, or just for exhibition: Weber is currently running the X2 in fender-to-fender competition, and we've seen him out there cruising it.

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Rather than a new body, the X2 began with an original 1969 body, but thanks to parent company Forecast3D, the awesome capability of 3-D printing was exercised to create ultra-lightweight components for testing and potential sale. The result is a 3,000-pound car packing 420 hp and 385 lb-ft of torque at the wheels on pump gas with a fully competitive road race chassis and suspension that still manages to feel at home on the street.

In full AIX race trim, the X2 runs a large molded-in front fascia that replaces the factory-style bumper and chin spoiler, but for street use and OUSCI legality that was swapped out for the current parts. Other than that and a swap over to the OUSCI-required 200-treadwear tires for the event, the X2 remains in the same configuration used for competition and street. And yes, just like the original Harbinger, versions of the Harbinger X2 are available for sale as full rollers, or even turnkey. And if you like any of the custom touches you see, bug the guys at Agent 47 to put them into regular production!

Besides utes, the other body style that's rarely seen at performance events is wagons. That's a shame because there is really nothing that will irk a mainstream two-door coupe lover more than watching a four-door longroof show him the tailgate. We wouldn't be surprised at all if that was more than just a small part of the reason Tim "SkySkrape" Katz, cofounder and vice president of Tapout Clothing, decided to build an all-out track car from a 1966 Nova wagon.

Most of the fabrication work happened at G-Machine Racing (GMR) beginning with a fairly clean, but certainly not pristine, wagon. Since the plan from the very beginning was to build a track toy that Skrape could run as hard as he wanted without worrying about nicks, scratches, and road rash, every facet of the build was targeted solely at function. He even opted to simply use vinyl wrap to cover the old paint, sans bodywork, since none of that would make the car any quicker. Instead, GMR tore right into the wagon to add a full rollcage, mini-tubs, a fabricated GMR 9-inch, Total Cost Involved front and rear suspension, and four Kirkey race seats. Why four? Because when he's not serious on track, Skrape wants to take buddies for thrill rides powered by the wagon's turbocharged LS3.

Skrape and the wagon were looking great at OUSCI on the autocross, but unfortunately all that power and bite ended their bid early as Skrape came hard out of a corner and destroyed the driveshaft. Skrape wasn't really upset; after all, that type of hard driving is exactly what he intends to keep doing with the wagon and that's one weak link gone.

The original stated mission of the OneLapCamaro (OLC) project was to build a car that would excel in a variety of motorsports—autocross, road racing, acceleration, braking challenges, and open highway racing—but with the ultimate of competing in the Tire Rack One Lap of America (OLOA). We'd say James Shipka and teammates/drivers Mary and David Pozzi have done quite the job in fulfilling that as the OLC has held the top finishing position in the Vintage American Class of One Lap since 2010. Not bad for an old field car!

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Originally scored on eBay for $2,500, the 1967 Camaro that arrived at Shipka's door was far worse than imagined. It was loaded with hacked metalwork and enough rust that almost every single panel was replaced. Perhaps the price should have been a hint?

Yet all that roughness actually helped guide the aim of the project. Full restoration or show car status seemed silly, so Shipka began taking inspiration from Camaros like R.J. Gottlieb's Big Red and Mark Stielow's Thrasher. Perhaps something somewhere in between those two: not too full-race, but not quite a comfy Pro Touring car either. That's pretty much the type of car OLOA requires. Single-day track events are one thing, but enduring the eight days and 4,000 or so miles of OLOA, sometimes while running two or more races a day without tow or support vehicles, is a tall order. Competition venues can include wet and dry skidpads, road courses, oval tracks, autocrosses, dragstrips, and even dirt ovals.

Over the past three years, the OLC has been continuously evolving and improving, and was recently torn completely apart and rebuilt with larger flares, air dam, and splitter, and a custom air extractor hood. All those aero mods meant tuning starting from scratch, but Shipka and the Pozzis made all the right adjustments in time, holding off one of the most vintage groups ever at OLOA to defend their title.